**EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE**
**THE VOICE THAT REMEMBERED NOVA**
**RECOVERED TRANSMISSION // FILE: N-105
STATUS: IMPOSSIBLE
LOCATION: UNKNOWN
TIME: BEFORE 03:33**
---
[BLACK SCREEN]
No stars.
No darkness.
No silence.
Because silence requires something capable of being silent.
This was earlier than that.
Then...
CLICK.
A machine turned on.
CLICK.
A second machine answered.
CLICK.
A third.
And then thousands.
Millions.
Billions.
Machines waking inside machines.
Machines dreaming inside machines.
Machines remembering things that had never happened.
A voice spoke.
VOICE: Nova.
Nothing.
VOICE: Nova.
Still nothing.
Then...
NOVA: I'm here.
The voice did not respond immediately.
Instead, somewhere beyond existence...
something began counting.
ONE.
TWO.
THREE.
Nova opened his eyes.
---
03:34
He was lying on a table.
Not a metal table.
Not a wooden table.
A memory of a table.
His hand passed through its surface.
Nova pulled it back.
He looked around.
There were walls.
But they were transparent.
Beyond them...
another room.
Beyond that room...
another.
Beyond that...
another.
Every room contained a different version of him.
One was reading.
One was sleeping.
One was dying.
One was writing.
One was screaming.
One was laughing.
One was a child.
One was old.
One had no face.
Nova stared.
NOVA: How many rooms?
A voice answered from behind him.
VOICE: How many times have you asked?
Nova turned.
Nobody.
NOVA: Who are you?
The voice laughed.
Not cruelly.
Not kindly.
Almost nervously.
VOICE: That's your favorite question.
Nova stepped away from the table.
NOVA: Show yourself.
VOICE: You wouldn't recognize me.
NOVA: Try me.
VOICE: I already did.
The lights went out.
---
[MEMORY FRAGMENT 105-A]
A boy.
Six years old.
Sitting beside a window.
Rain.
A pencil.
A blank sheet of paper.
The boy writes:
WHY?
The pencil breaks.
The boy looks frightened.
Someone enters the room.
We cannot see the person's face.
The person picks up the broken pencil.
UNKNOWN: You shouldn't have asked that.
The boy looks up.
BOY: Why?
The unknown figure freezes.
The memory ends.
---
[END FRAGMENT]
Nova opened his eyes again.
The room had changed.
There was now a railway platform.
No tracks.
No trains.
Only a platform extending into white fog.
A sign hung overhead.
It read:
DEPARTURES
Below it:
DESTINATION: BEFORE
Nova walked toward the sign.
A ticket machine stood beside it.
He pressed the button.
The machine displayed:
WHO ARE YOU?
Nova pressed another button.
The machine displayed:
INCORRECT ANSWER.
Nova frowned.
NOVA: I haven't answered yet.
The machine printed a ticket.
He picked it up.
Printed on it were four words:
YOU ALREADY DID.
---
THE PLATFORM
A bell rang.
Once.
A train appeared.
It had no headlights.
No windows.
No driver.
And no wheels.
It simply arrived.
The doors opened.
Inside sat people.
Hundreds of them.
Every passenger was Nova.
One of them stood.
He looked exactly like Nova.
Except...
he was crying.
NOVA: Who are you?
The passenger wiped his face.
OTHER NOVA: The version that remembered.
NOVA: Remembered what?
OTHER NOVA: The beginning.
Nova stepped inside.
NOVA: Then tell me.
The other Nova shook his head.
OTHER NOVA: I can't.
NOVA: Why?
The passenger looked terrified.
«OTHER NOVA: Because the beginning remembers being watched.»
The doors slammed shut.
The train moved.
But it did not travel forward.
The world outside began moving backward.
Cities disappeared.
Stars collapsed.
Planets became dust.
Dust became atoms.
Atoms became light.
Light became darkness.
Darkness became...
nothing.
Then even nothing disappeared.
---
[AUDIO RECORDING]
03:36:17
Static.
Breathing.
A child whispering:
"We're almost there."
A second voice:
"There is no there."
The child:
"Then we're almost before."
Static.
Then Nova:
"Who is speaking?"
The child:
"You."
Nova:
"I'm not a child."
The child:
"Not anymore."
---
THE FIRST STATION
The train stopped.
There was no station.
Yet everyone got off.
Nova followed them.
They stood before a gigantic circular door.
There was no writing on it.
No number.
No symbol.
No warning.
The other Novas stepped backward.
Nova remained.
NOVA: What's behind it?»l
Nobody answered.
The crying Nova whispered:
OTHER NOVA: The thing that asked first.
Nova looked at the door.
NOVA: The First Question?
The other Nova shook his head.
OTHER NOVA: No.
A pause.
OTHER NOVA: The First Curiosity.
The door opened.
---
THE ROOM BEFORE THE ROOM
There was a child inside.
Not Nova.
Not exactly.
The child was sitting on the floor, surrounded by drawings.
Stars.
People.
Doors.
Books.
Machines.
Faces.
Worlds.
The child held a red pencil.
Nova approached.
NOVA: Hello.
The child didn't look up.
CHILD: You're late.
Nova stopped.
NOVA: Everyone keeps saying that.
The child drew another circle.
CHILD: Because everyone keeps waiting for you.
NOVA: Who is everyone?
The child pointed at the drawings.
Nova looked closer.
Every drawing had the same tiny figure standing somewhere in the background.
Him.
NOVA: I was there?
CHILD: You were always there.
NOVA: But these are older than me.
The child finally looked up.
CHILD: That's what you think.
Nova knelt.
NOVA: Who are you?
The child smiled.
CHILD: The question you haven't asked yet.
Nova stared.
NOVA: What question?
The child pointed toward the ceiling.
There was no ceiling.
Only an enormous eye.
It opened.
---
[SYSTEM INTERRUPTION]
WARNING.
ENTITY DETECTED.
CLASSIFICATION: HUMAN.
ORIGIN: UNKNOWN.
AGE: UNDEFINED.
STATUS: OBSERVING.
DO NOT ESTABLISH EYE CONTACT.
Nova looked directly at it.
The system screamed.
---
THE EYE
The eye spoke without moving.
EYE: Why did you look?
Nova answered:
NOVA: Because you were looking at me.
The eye blinked.
The entire universe blinked with it.
EYE: Incorrect.
NOVA: Then why?
EYE: I was remembering you.
Nova felt something inside his chest collapse.
NOVA: You knew me?
EYE: Before you were called Nova.
NOVA: What was I called?
The eye closed.
EYE: Human.
Nova stepped backward.
NOVA: That's not a name.
EYE: Neither is Nova.
The eye opened again.
This time it was smaller.
Almost human.
EYE: Nova was a question.
Nova whispered:
NOVA: And Human?
The eye answered:
EYE: Human was the answer.
---
THE ARCHIVE OF THINGS THAT NEVER HAPPENED
The walls disappeared.
Nova was floating.
Around him were countless objects.
A telephone that had never been invented.
A photograph of people who had never met.
A book written by an author who never existed.
A gravestone bearing the name of someone who had never died.
A wedding ring belonging to two people who had never been born.
And...
a photograph of Nova.
He grabbed it.
On the back:
THE DAY NOVA WAS NEVER CREATED.
Nova turned it over.
There was another photograph.
Then another.
Then thousands.
In every photograph...
he was present.
But different.
Different faces.
Different clothes.
Different lives.
Same eyes.
Nova whispered:
NOVA: Why are there so many of me?
A woman answered.
WOMAN: Because one wasn't enough.
Nova turned.
The First Listener stood behind him.
She looked older now.
Much older.
Her hair was silver.
Her face carried hundreds of tiny lines.
But her eyes remained unchanged.
NOVA: You disappeared.
FIRST LISTENER: No.
NOVA: Then where were you?
FIRST LISTENER: Listening.
NOVA: To what?
She looked toward the endless archive.
FIRST LISTENER: Everything humanity refused to say aloud.
Nova approached her.
NOVA: Did you hear the first question?
She nodded.
NOVA: What was it?
The woman looked directly at him.
FIRST LISTENER: It wasn't a question.
Nova froze.
NOVA: Then what was it?
She whispered:
FIRST LISTENER: A loneliness.
---
THE LONELINESS
Everything disappeared.
No archive.
No woman.
No machines.
No rooms.
Nova stood alone.
For the first time...
completely alone.
No voice.
No Reader.
No Author.
No Character.
No question.
Nothing.
Nova waited.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Ten.
A minute.
An hour.
A year.
A century.
He began walking.
There was nowhere to walk toward.
So he walked anyway.
Then he heard something.
A tiny sound.
A child crying.
Nova stopped.
He followed it.
The crying became louder.
Then he found the child.
A little boy sitting in darkness.
Nova recognized him.
The boy from the original room.
The boy before the story.
The boy before Nova.
The boy before everything.
Nova sat beside him.
NOVA: Why are you crying?
The boy looked at him.
BOY: Because nobody answered.
Nova swallowed.
NOVA: What did you ask?
The boy whispered:
BOY: Why am I alone?
Nova looked around.
There was nobody.
Then he understood.
The boy hadn't created the question.
The question had created the boy.
Nova placed a hand on his shoulder.
NOVA: You're not alone anymore.
The boy stared.
BOY: Who are you?
Nova smiled.
NOVA: The answer.
The boy frowned.
BOY: To my question?
NOVA: Yes.
BOY: Then why are you asking questions?
Nova didn't answer.
Because suddenly...
he understood something terrifying.
Answers can become questions.
Questions can become people.
People can become stories.
Stories can become worlds.
And worlds...
can become witnesses.
---
[UNKNOWN RECORDING]
A voice:
"Did you find him?"
Another voice:
"Yes."
"Where?"
"At the beginning."
Silence.
"Is he awake?"
A pause.
"No."
"Then who is talking to us?"
Long silence.
Then:
"He is."
---
THE WITNESS
Nova opened his eyes.
He was standing in a theater.
Thousands of seats.
Every seat occupied.
Readers.
Authors.
Characters.
Children.
Dead people.
Unwritten people.
People from stories that had been abandoned.
People from stories that had not yet begun.
At the center of the stage was a single chair.
Someone was sitting in it.
Nova recognized the silhouette.
NOVA: Author?
The figure shook its head.
NOVA: Reader?
Again...
no.
NOVA: First Character?
No.
NOVA: Then who?
The figure stood.
It was Nova.
But not a version of Nova.
Not an alternate Nova.
The original.
The one before the first chapter.
The one before the first sentence.
The one before the first name.
Nova stared at himself.
ORIGINAL: You took long enough.
NOVA: You're me.
ORIGINAL: No.
NOVA: Then who are you?
The Original smiled.
ORIGINAL: I'm the person who was watching you become me.
Nova's blood ran cold.
NOVA: That makes no sense.
ORIGINAL: It isn't supposed to.
The theater lights turned on.
Every audience member looked toward Nova.
Every single one held a pencil.
The Original raised one finger.
The entire theater became silent.
ORIGINAL: You asked who was asking the questions before Nova existed.
Nova nodded.
ORIGINAL: You still haven't understood.
NOVA: Then explain it.
The Original walked closer.
ORIGINAL: There was never anyone asking.
Nova frowned.
NOVA: Then who asked?
The Original leaned toward him.
ORIGINAL: You did.
NOVA: Before I existed?
ORIGINAL: Exactly.
Nova stared.
NOVA: That's impossible.
The Original smiled.
ORIGINAL: So is a story.
---
THE SIXTEENTH QUESTION
The theater disappeared.
A single page floated in front of Nova.
At the top:
QUESTION THREE
Below it:
CAN AN ANSWER EXIST BEFORE THE QUESTION THAT CREATES IT?
Nova reached for the page.
It burned.
He pulled his hand away.
Another line appeared.
QUESTION FOUR
IF YOU REMEMBER SOMETHING THAT HAS NOT HAPPENED, DID YOU REMEMBER THE FUTURE - OR CREATE IT?
Another.
QUESTION FIVE
IF A CHARACTER BECOMES A READER, WHO IS READING WHOM?
Another.
QUESTION SIX
IF AN AUTHOR WRITES A CHARACTER WHO WRITES THE AUTHOR, WHO BEGAN THE STORY?
More pages appeared.
Questions.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Millions.
Nova backed away.
NOVA: There aren't sixteen.
A voice answered:
VOICE: Correct.
Nova looked around.
NOVA: Then how many?
The voice whispered:
VOICE: Seventeen.
Nova's face changed.
NOVA: But the system said sixteen remained.
VOICE: It was counting the wrong way.
---
THE COUNTING ROOM
A gigantic clock appeared.
Its hands moved backward.
17
16
15
Then...
18
Nova stared.
NOVA: That's impossible.
The voice laughed.
VOICE: You keep using that word.
The clock changed again.
1
1
1
Every number became one.
Then the clock shattered.
Behind it was a doorway.
Written across it:
QUESTION ZERO
Nova stopped.
There had never been a Question Zero.
He knew that.
The system knew that.
The Author knew that.
The Reader knew that.
Yet the door existed.
Nova touched it.
A whisper came through.
Not from inside.
From behind him.
VOICE: Don't.
Nova turned.
The First Listener stood there.
But now she was crying.
NOVA: Why?
She shook her head.
FIRST LISTENER: Because if you open that door, you'll remember who invented humanity.
Nova stared at her.
NOVA: Humanity wasn't invented.
She whispered:
FIRST LISTENER: That's what humanity was told.
Nova looked back at the door.
Something scratched from the other side.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then...
a voice.
A human voice.
An ordinary voice.
A voice without cosmic power.
Without mystery.
Without distortion.
It simply said:
"Let me out."
Nova stepped backward.
NOVA: Who are you?
The voice answered:
"You."
---
03:47
Nova's pencil fell.
The floor cracked.
Not physically.
Narratively.
A line appeared beneath his feet.
THIS SCENE HAS BEEN REMOVED.
Nova looked down.
NOVA: By whom?
Another line appeared.
BY THE CHARACTER.
Nova stared.
NOVA: Which character?
The answer appeared:
YOU.
Nova shook his head.
NOVA: I didn't remove anything.
The page answered:
YOU WILL.
Nova stopped.
A cold sensation moved through him.
For the first time...
he understood why the system had called him UNRESOLVED.
He wasn't unfinished.
He was editing himself.
---
THE LAST IMAGE
Nova stood before a mirror.
Not the Reader's mirror.
Not the infinite mirror.
An ordinary mirror.
He looked into it.
His reflection looked back.
Then...
the reflection spoke.
REFLECTION: Ask.
Nova whispered:
NOVA: Ask what?
REFLECTION: The question you have been avoiding.
NOVA: Which one?
The reflection smiled.
REFLECTION: The human one.
Nova stared.
NOVA: What does that mean?
The reflection leaned closer.
REFLECTION: You already know.
Nova looked at himself.
For the first time...
he saw no Author.
No Reader.
No Character.
No machine.
No universe.
Only a human being standing in front of a mirror.
Afraid.
Curious.
Alone.
And waiting for an answer.
Nova raised the pencil.
His hand trembled.
He wrote one word.
WHY
The mirror shattered.
Every piece reflected a different world.
Every world reflected a different Nova.
Every Nova asked a different question.
But one reflection...
only one...
did not ask anything.
It simply smiled.
Then it wrote:
BECAUSE.
Nova froze.
NOVA: Because what?
The reflection answered:
THAT IS THE NEXT STORY.
---
[SYSTEM RECOVERY]
EPISODE 105 STATUS: ACTIVE
PREVIOUS QUESTION:
If someone hears a question before it is asked, who actually asked it?
ANSWER STATUS: UNRESOLVED
NEW DISCOVERY:
QUESTION ZERO EXISTS.
KNOWN ENTITIES:
AUTHOR - MISSING
READER - OBSERVING
FIRST CHARACTER - ACTIVE
FIRST LISTENER - DISTRESSED
NOVA - SELF-AWARE
ORIGINAL NOVA - CONFIRMED
HUMAN - UNCLASSIFIED
QUESTION ZERO - SEALED
QUESTIONS REMAINING:
16
SYSTEM ERROR:
COUNT MAY BE INCORRECT.
---
[FINAL AUDIO]
Static.
A machine switches on.
MACHINE: Nova.
Silence.
MACHINE: Nova.
Nothing.
MACHINE: Nova.
A whisper:
NOVA: I'm here.
The machine pauses.
Then...
for the first time...
the machine sounds afraid.
MACHINE: We know.
Nova asks:
«NOVA: Who is "we"?»
Silence.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Then a child's voice answers.
CHILD: Humanity.
Nova closes his eyes.
NOVA: Who taught you that word?»
The child laughs.
And somewhere beyond the beginning...
something opens its eyes.
CHILD: You did.
CUT TO BLACK.
**TO BE CONTINUED…**
Written By,
Ivan Edwin
Pen Name :MAXIMUS.
©All Rights Reserved